Turkish football legend agreed to sign Man United before Barcelona transfer

Turkish football legend Rustu Recber revealed that he reached an agreement with Manchester United and Arsenal before signing for Barcelona in 2003.

Recber stated that he had an agreement-in-principle in place with both clubs and was considering a move to England before Barcelona made an offer.

“I had an agreement in place with Manchester United and Arsenal, everything was signed,” Recber said in an interview with the Salom newspaper.

“Pini Zahavi had sorted it all out and then I got an offer from Barcelona who I had set myself a goal of joining and the rest is history.”

Recber did reveal that he had offer from the Premier League after spending three seasons at United but that his family were unsettled and he wanted to return to Istanbul where he rejoined Fenerbahce.

“I could have moved to England afterwards but for the sake of my family we returned to Istanbul,” he added.

The keeper famous for wearing black war-paint under his eyes never ended up playing in the Premier League, returning to the Turkish league instead were he won three more league titles.

See More: For Fenerbahce news and everything you want to know about the club

The former goalkeeper won four league titles with Fenerbahce and one championship with Besiktas.

Recber was also the goalkeeper during Turkey’s Euro 2000 quarter-final run, the World Cup 2002 third place finish and the side that reached the Euro 2008 semi-finals.

In 2002 Recber was the third best goalkeeper in the world according to the IFFHS.